Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set
- Thread starter IronWolf
- Start date
Yair
Community Supporter
Rating this product is difficult, as it depends on what you expect from it.
This is nothing more than the three core rulebooks in a box. You don't get them any cheaper (at least I didn't), nor do you get anything extra for your money (no errata, no pamphlet, nothing like that). If you want anything like that - this isn't the product for you.
The box is of thick cardboard, a slip-case to slide the books into. I suppose it is meant mainly to sit on the shelf, with the three book nicely tucked in.
I bought it as a present to a friend. He uses the box to carry them around in his bag and is very pleased with it - the box has endured so far (several months; I don't think it will last long if ill-treated, however - it doesn't strike me as very durable), it keeps the books together in less of a mess, and is generally just nice. It is also quite pretty, to my taste. As a gift-set of the three core books, I think this is a pretty good product.
I gave this product a 4 - good, but the box could be more durable, and some extra gimmick would have been nice. Again, however, if you are looking for anything beyond just the 3 core books and a nice box to put them in on your shelf - you will be disappointed.
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I doubt the reader is unfamiliar with the 3.5 system itself. If by some bizzare twist of fate you are not familiar with the system, I recommend going over and reading one of the many fine reviews on the three core books. Just in case you want the short-version, here is my take on it.
The three books in the product (the player's handbook, the dungeon master's guide, and the monster manual) together comprise a complete game system. It the revised, and latest, edition of the D&D game which is the first, best-selling, and indeed dominant roleplaying game. This ruleset is generally superior to previous editions of the game ("old" D&D, AD&D, and so on) in terms of the coherence and self-consistency of the rules, options, and the sheer quality of the game as a game (roleplaying quality I find depends on you anyway). As you can guess by the sheer volume of the thing, the system is rule-intensive (altough most in-game rules are reserved to the player's handbook, of course).
If you are wondering whther to purchase the revised set and so came upon this review - I suggest you do, if you can afford to. The 3.5 edition put into affect several changes - there are in-depth analysis on the web, so I will keep this short. The revised monster manual is generally considrered superior, being both more consistent and more helpful (providing base attack bonus and grapple bonus, single and full attack, and so on). The revised player's handbook contains a lot of small changes, such as adding more powers to high-level barbarians, improving the much-complaint-about ranger, nerfing haste and other spells, better explanations of combat rules, and so on. Some of the changes are great (the much-improved combat explanations for example), others I found to be dis-improvements (the new much weakened sleep, for example). The revised dungeon master's guide is, I believe, the weakest of the three - although it contains some new material (new/altered prestige classes, more detailed environment rules, and so on) I find the changes less impressive; its most redeeming quality is the revised listings of magic items, the changes therein are rare and subtle but generally good (for example the pricing of cosntant items now depends on the spell's duration).
This is nothing more than the three core rulebooks in a box. You don't get them any cheaper (at least I didn't), nor do you get anything extra for your money (no errata, no pamphlet, nothing like that). If you want anything like that - this isn't the product for you.
The box is of thick cardboard, a slip-case to slide the books into. I suppose it is meant mainly to sit on the shelf, with the three book nicely tucked in.
I bought it as a present to a friend. He uses the box to carry them around in his bag and is very pleased with it - the box has endured so far (several months; I don't think it will last long if ill-treated, however - it doesn't strike me as very durable), it keeps the books together in less of a mess, and is generally just nice. It is also quite pretty, to my taste. As a gift-set of the three core books, I think this is a pretty good product.
I gave this product a 4 - good, but the box could be more durable, and some extra gimmick would have been nice. Again, however, if you are looking for anything beyond just the 3 core books and a nice box to put them in on your shelf - you will be disappointed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I doubt the reader is unfamiliar with the 3.5 system itself. If by some bizzare twist of fate you are not familiar with the system, I recommend going over and reading one of the many fine reviews on the three core books. Just in case you want the short-version, here is my take on it.
The three books in the product (the player's handbook, the dungeon master's guide, and the monster manual) together comprise a complete game system. It the revised, and latest, edition of the D&D game which is the first, best-selling, and indeed dominant roleplaying game. This ruleset is generally superior to previous editions of the game ("old" D&D, AD&D, and so on) in terms of the coherence and self-consistency of the rules, options, and the sheer quality of the game as a game (roleplaying quality I find depends on you anyway). As you can guess by the sheer volume of the thing, the system is rule-intensive (altough most in-game rules are reserved to the player's handbook, of course).
If you are wondering whther to purchase the revised set and so came upon this review - I suggest you do, if you can afford to. The 3.5 edition put into affect several changes - there are in-depth analysis on the web, so I will keep this short. The revised monster manual is generally considrered superior, being both more consistent and more helpful (providing base attack bonus and grapple bonus, single and full attack, and so on). The revised player's handbook contains a lot of small changes, such as adding more powers to high-level barbarians, improving the much-complaint-about ranger, nerfing haste and other spells, better explanations of combat rules, and so on. Some of the changes are great (the much-improved combat explanations for example), others I found to be dis-improvements (the new much weakened sleep, for example). The revised dungeon master's guide is, I believe, the weakest of the three - although it contains some new material (new/altered prestige classes, more detailed environment rules, and so on) I find the changes less impressive; its most redeeming quality is the revised listings of magic items, the changes therein are rare and subtle but generally good (for example the pricing of cosntant items now depends on the spell's duration).
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